Meeting The Truth

Iris and Emery both watched with a calculative gaze as Cassie and her gang shuffled into the corridors followed by Nia.

"What does she think she is doing?" Iris grumbled. "This is not good." She muttered as she hastily shoved her book into her bag and sprung up; throwing the bag over her left shoulder.

Without another glance at her desk, she darted off. She trod into the hallway crowded with students moving in different directions and her eyes searched through for any sign of Nia or Cassie but there was neither of them.

She thought if she could even spot their backs disappearing through any of the corners at either end of the hallway but there was nothing at all.

"Hey," She hastily muttered, holding onto the arm of a student who was passing by. "Did you see which way Cassie and Nia went?" She continued with an expectant gaze.

"No." The student answered quite unconcerned and staggered off.

Iris stared at her back and clicked her tongue; traveling her gaze to the other end of the hallway as she threaded a hand through her half-tied hair. "This is crazy." She grumbled and strolled off.

At that second, Emery sauntered out of the class. He stared at her back as she shuffled through the crowd and snorted, going the other way.

After a few strolls through the hallways, Cassie with her gang, and Nia finally got to the rooftop. The place was quiet with nobody around.

Halfway in, Cassie instinctively paused with an even smile pasted on her lips. "So..." She mumbled, folding her arms while she turned to Nia who was standing behind her. "What do you want?" She queried.

"What's your deal with me?" Nia hastily snapped in as soon as Cassie ended her statement. "Thought we were friends." She added which had Cassie and her gang exchange looks as a mocking smile lingered in their eyes.

Cassie sneered, taking a step closer to Nia. "And what made you think so?" She muttered with a lopsided grin. "Don't get too ahead of yourself. I just needed a pushover which you were just perfect for. I used you for my gain if I should enlighten you." She continued, her brows furrowing into a scornful gaze. "Everything was going so well with me being in the spotlight but then, you appeared from nowhere." She said poking Nia's left shoulder in the process. Nia's eyes deftly traveled to her shoulder then back to Cassie's face as the force applied to her shoulder made her step back. "You took everything from me and I hated you for that but then..." Cassie added, her frown suddenly switching to a smugish expression. "All I needed was to paint you black and you know what?" She sneered, "You were so easy to fool." She went on.

Nia watched with a pained gaze as Cassie rattle down her nonsense. She felt all of young Nia's pain, guilt, anger, betrayal, and bitterness. It was as though it was herself. Suddenly, she felt a spin in her head which came with sharp pain. She instinctively twitched her eyes watching Cassie as she could barely hear her anymore but only see her opening and closing her mouth like a fish drawn out of water.

Just then, little fragments of Nia's memories swept across her mind's eye as if she was watching a movie. All the bad things she did and finally, the worse one which almost got a girl killed. "This must be it." A voice howled in Nia's head. "This must be the reason," Nia grumbled mentally to herself.

But in it all, one thing was certain. Cassie and her gang were there. They seemed to be the brain behind everything but they betrayed her; she was framed. A rage of anger welled up Nia's chest as she looked into Cassie– fully conscious of herself now. Her hands instinctively clenched into a fist as she shook with contempt.

"Guess you lost your memory." She heard Cassie say. "Come on Audrey, Nadia." She added, seizing her up as they walked passed her.

Audrey is a chestnut skin tone girl with a coffee brown hair color whiles Nadia is a porcelain skin tone girl with a jet black hair color.

"I'm going to prove my innocence," Nia uttered, turning to them whiles they paused midway. A smile instinctively swept across Cassie's face as they turned to face Nia once again.

"Really?" She scoffed, her lips curving into a smugish grin. "Let's see how you do that?" She loud whispered and they staggered off without waiting for another word from Nia.

Watching as their backs disappeared through the door to the rooftop, a silent tear strayed from Nia's eyes which she sniffled back, drying her eyes with her hand.

She could feel the heaviness of her heart as the words of Cassie echoed in her mind.

As to if it was from her or the young Nia; she couldn't place her hand on but one thing she wanted most was to vindicate herself. She believed that was what young Nia also yearned for. With no plan, in particular, Nia shuffled off.

Her brows instinctively furrowed when she got down the stairway to meet Emery resting his back against the wall with his arms folded across his chest like he was waiting for someone. She deftly lurked around then back to Emery.

"What are you doing here?" She inquired which made him scoff.

"Does it look like I needed your permission to be here?" He queried and Nia slightly shook her head. She stared skeptically at him for some seconds and hissed.

"Well, I'm not in the mood to pick quarrels with you." She addressed. "You can suit yourself." She added and staggered off.